Product description

This book offers straight answers to every question you've ever had about how the economy works and how it affects your life. In this Collector's Edition of their celebrated How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, Peter Schiff, economic expert and bestselling author of Crash Proof and The Real Crash, once again teams up with his brother Andrew to spin a lively economic fable that untangles many of the fallacies preventing people from really understanding what drives an economy. The 2010 original has been described as a "Flintstones" take economics that entertainingly explains the beauty of free markets. The new edition has been greatly expanded in both quantity and quality. A new introduction and two new illustrated chapters bring the story up to date, and most importantly, the book makes the jump from black and white to full and vivid color. With the help of colorful cartoon illustrations, lively humor, and deceptively simple storytelling, the Schiff's bring the complex subjects of inflation, monetary policy, recession, and other important topics in economics down to Earth. The story starts with three guys on an island who barely survive by fishing barehanded.
Then one enterprising islander invents a net, catches more fish, and changes the island's economy fundamentally. Using this story the Schiffs apply their signature take-no-prisoners logic to expose the glaring fallacies and gaping holes permeating the global economic conversation. The Collector's Edition: provides straight answers about how economies work, without relying on nonsensical jargon and mind-numbing doublespeak the experts use to cover up their confusion; includes a new introduction that sets the stage for developing a deeper, more practical understanding of inflation and the abuses of the monetary system; and adds two new chapters that dissect the Federal Reserve's Quantitative easing policies and the European Debt Crisis. It colorizes the original book's hundreds of cartoon illustrations. The improved images, executed by artist Brendan Leach from the original book, add new vigor to the presentation Has a larger format that has been designed to fit most coffee tables. While the story may appear simple on the surface, as told by the Schiff brothers, it will leave you with a deep understanding of How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes.

Author information

Peter D. Schiff is CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, an SEC-Registered Investment Advisor and a full-service broker/dealer, and Chairman of Euro Pacific Precious Metals. He is a widely followed opponent of debt-fueled growth policies and known for his advocacy of emerging market and commodity-focused investments in countries with positive economic and fiscal characteristics. Mr. Schiff has been quoted hundreds of times in leading news outlets around the world, including the Wall Street Journal , Barron's , Die Zeit , Tokyo Shimbun , South China Morning Post , Investor's Business Daily , the Financial Times , the New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , and the Washington Post . He appears regularly on CNBC, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Fox News, and Fox Business. Andrew J. Schiff , a veteran media and marketing consultant in the financial services industry, leads the communications and media effort at Euro Pacific Capital. Andrew has worked closely with his brother Peter for nearly a decade, first as an outside consultant and then as a key member of the Euro Pacific team. He has helped develop, refine, and target Euro Pacific strategic communications for media and clients.

Back cover copy

"If you feel you want to get a decent grasp of free-market economics . . . this book is the perfect place to start." --Daniel Hannan, Telegraph.co.uk ""How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes" makes economics fun and accessible. Bestselling author and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Peter D. Schiff and his brother Andrew J. Schiff, communications director of Euro Pacific Capital, convey the often intuitive ideas of economics through an engaging, fictitious story richly illustrated with amusing cartoons." --"The Washington Times" At last, straight answers to some of economics' more vexing questions. With the help of colorful cartoon illustrations, lively humor, and deceptively simple storytelling, brothers Peter and Andrew Schiff bring the complexity of economics down to earth for all to understand. Along the way, the brothers apply their signature take-no-prisoners logic to expose the glaring fallacies and gaping holes that permeate the global economic conversation. The book is designed so that all people, even teenagers, can gain a better grasp of what turns the economic wheels of progress and what makes them stop turning. Overflowing with wit and common sense, this new "Collector's Edition" of "How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes" explains: The roots of economic growth Why some countries are rich and others are poor The importance of trade and risk taking The sources of inflation The effects of interest rates and government stimulus The destructive nature of consumer credit Why saving is better than spending as a cure for a bad economy And other frequently discussed, yet poorly understood, economic principles While the story may appear simple on the surface, as told by the Schiff brothers, it will leave you with a deep understanding of "How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes."

Flap copy

If you don't have your facts straight, explaining how an economy works can be like trying to catch brook trout with your bare hands. Watching the parade of self-appointed "experts" twist logic into pretzels in order to make useless economic forecasts is enough to make the average person change the channel. Could it be that the talking heads don't have a clue? Is it possible that the "dismal science," as economics has become known, is neither as complicated nor as dismal as you've been led to believe? According to the authors of this thoroughly entertaining introduction to economics, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" It's all a matter of where you start and how you tell the tale. In this expanded and colorized "Collector's Edition" of their award-winning book "How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes," Peter Schiff, economic expert and bestselling author of "Crash Proof," "The Little Book of Bull Moves," and "The Real Crash," once again teams up with brother Andrew Schiff to shed light on economic mysteries with an informative and extremely amusing allegory. The Schiffs' story takes place on a tropical island where hunter-gatherer cavemen struggle daily to catch fish for their basic survival. As the island economy develops and becomes increasingly dynamic, layer upon layer of institutions and government entities spring up to protect the islanders' savings and assets, leading to ever-increasing levels of complexity. But, at the core, the economic engines remain the same. Served up with lavish portions of wit--and a super-sized helping of common sense on the side--the Schiffs deftly explain many widely misunderstood aspects of economics, including the root causes of growth, the uses of capital, the destructive nature of consumer credit, the causes of inflation and deflation, and many others. The book is an expansion and update of the celebrated cartoon book written in the early 1980s by the Schiffs' father Irwin, a renowned economist and forecaster in his own right. For this "Collector's Edition," all of the book's existing illustrations (by graphic artist Brendan Leach) have been vibrantly colorized, and two new chapters (with new illustrations) have been added that wryly comment on recent economic developments. This edition also features a new introduction, in which the authors reflect on the dangers presented by the ever increasing reliance on expansive monetary policy. A book that proves that economics can be much easier to wrap your head around than you ever imagined--not to mention rousing good fun--"How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, Collector's Edition" gives you the straight answers you've always craved and spares you the mind-numbing doublespeak that experts have used to cover up their own cluelessness.